The tale of Dungeon Siege continues in the next chapter of this action RPG in Dungeon Siege III. It has been over six years since we last saw a true sequel. After switching both developer and publisher, Obsidian Entertainment and Square Enix hopes to keep this legendary RPG alive by expanding to consoles. So does Dungeon Siege III continue to give us what we need in a top-down action RPG? Or will it fail to impress this time around? Find out in this review of Dungeon Siege III.

STORY:

Dungeon Siege III returns to where it started in the Kingdom of Ehb. After the death of Ehb’s king, the Legion was hunted and killed for his death. As the last of the legionnaires, the player must venture out, rebuild, and stop the evil that is roaming and corrupting the land. The player can take control of one of four different characters; Lucas Montbarron, Anjali, Reinhart Manx, and Katarina. Who will save Ehb, is completely up to you.

The story as a whole isn’t bad and it’s told quite well. Only problem is that the story loses it flavor about half-though. You will sometimes forget you’re trying to save the kingdom from darkness. Along with that players can make decisions within the world of Ehb. These decisions can change the world quite easily, but adds more problems to the confusion of the story. More or less, your actions can vastly impact the story, world, and people around you. Only problem is that, in the end you will be left confused and forgotten.

GAMEPLAY:

Dungeon Siege III gameplay keeps most of the core mechanics intact. There were also some choices in gameplay that were changed or limited this time around too. The top-down perspective, a vast world to explore, character advancement, multiple different equipment and weapons, and more are all still here in Dungeon Siege III. Let’s start and focus on what changed within Dungeon Siege III.

Sadly one thing that has been changed was the group-party system that was found in previous Dungeon Siege games. Instead, the player will control one of the four main heroes in this tale. Each of the four characters has their own abilities, talent and equipment. Lucas is mostly the close-up brawler/tank class. Anjali is a mixture of both close-up fighting with a spear or she can use her fire to burn her enemies to ashes. Reinhart Manx is a mage who fights with his fist for close-quarter combat or magic waves to gain some range for his spells. Katarina fights with guns from pistols or a long-range musket rifle.

Like I said before, each of these characters are customizable to a certain point. Unlike previous Dungeon Siege games, where you had more leeway to customize appearance, abilities, and more are quite limited to the player now. The appearance of each character is limited, but there are a good number of uniforms, robes, armor and equipment to loot. Most of the stuff does looks the same and it’s sometimes difficult to tell if your stats are actually boosted unless you go into the profile page to see a more detailed look of the characters stats. Abilities are also limited and simplified to player. Characters are limited to nine abilities each, but each of these abilities has two different forms which have different attributes for that ability. Overall, most of the customization feels limited and simplified which is somewhat a step backwards.

On the multiplayer end, players can team up with three of their friend to take on the entire Dungeon Siege III adventure. Multiplayer has a lot of potential, but is somewhat a little short in some departments. Like I said before, Dungeon Siege III can be played in co-op, but the impact of all players can easily shape the story with dialogue choices. Each and every player has the ability to input their two cents in. This is good because it gives more player interaction, but on the down side other players can easily mess up the story paths. Multiplayer also limits joining players, where players who join your room will have a reduced level to the level where the host is. So if you have a beastly character that has rare equipment, he/she might lose some abilities and everything will reset. This is actually a good feature cause it gives all players even ground and the affects are not permanent for the joining player. Overall, multiplayer should be played with friends for the most enjoyable experience.

Overall, Dungeon Siege III changed and kept quite a few things. Most of the core elements like the top-down perspective, a vast world to explore, character advancement and development, different equipment to choose from, and more are all still in Dungeon Siege III. Multiplayer has been overhaul for more player interaction and common ground. The characters themselves are somewhat limited in their abilities and uniqueness. Even micro-management takes the back sit in Dungeon Siege III. Dungeon Siege III still has that enjoyable, fast-paced gameplay, but sadly it feels limited and simplified for experience and beginner dungeon crawlers.

PRESENTATION:

Dungeon Siege III has quite a feel to it both good and bad. The graphics as a whole are not bad, but nothing special. The unique world of Ehb, along with the main characters and enemies are quite unique and detailed. NPCs on the other hand suffer from bland and generic graphical taste. Voiceover wise, everyone in the game feels lifeless and unemotional. Main characters, NPCs, and everyone in the game will even deter someone who doesn’t even care about Voiceovers. With such a unique world that looks lively, the cast doesn’t fully take that potential to show good Voiceovers. Sound wise, Dungeon Siege III has that fantasy type theme from start to finish. Most of the soundtracks sound quite familiar with some hymns being remixed and reused for different environments. Overall presentation wise, Dungeon Siege III doesn’t set the bar for anything and is mostly typical and generic VO, and sounds, but with a good and unique graphical world.

CLOSING NOTE:

Dungeon Siege III is good, but nothing great or ground-breaking. The game had a lot of potential to bring this world to life in all departments, but falls short of its true goal. The story is quite interesting and told well, but can get confusing, loses focus, and easy forgotten about half-way though. Gameplay wise, the games keeps quite a few core mechanics, but is limited and simplified. Presentation wise, the unique world of Ehb and the main characters doesn’t come into light due to lifeless Voiceovers and overused fantasy theme soundtrack. Graphics on the other hand might not be anything special, but shows a unique and detailed world. Overall, Dungeon Siege III is an enjoyable game, but certain development choices hold back the full potential Dungeon Siege III.